Independent and experienced viewpoints on technology, network services and support, social media, usability, trends, and insights for associations and nonprofit organizations.

Web/Online Technologies

February 12, 2010

For this edition of the Social Media Sweet Spot, we reported live from my home office, once again, due to the merciless DC-region snowstorm parade. #snOMG indeed, my friends!

We talked about the biggest news for the association world this week in social media – the cancellation of ASAE’s Tech Conference – and its almost immediate replacement, the volunteer-driven UnTech10 Unconference.

Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

I shared the following posts with listeners on this week’s webcast:

1.Lisa, over at ASAE’s Acronym blog, started out the week with one of her “Quick Clicks” posts, which is always helpful for finding new and interesting blogs related to associations.

2.Lisa’s post led me to The Common Thread blog where Jamie Notter had written about the need to communicate and then communicate again – a short, but sweet reminder that after we send out that email, we might not be finished in our efforts to pass along a message.

3.You know who I love? Shelly Alcorn. I love Shelly Alcorn and her Association Subculture blog. Especially this week when she posted the first part of a 5-part series that serves as an association companion piece to How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, by Jim Collins. Her posts are always really meaty. She has one of those blogs that you think you should get CAE points for following and in Part 1 she talks about how arrogance can tear at an association and if you find yourself in an association with an 18 point strategic plan that it might be a sign that the organization needs help. This is a great read and I would suggest you get in on the ride now so you can enjoy the other four parts to come.

4.Amber Naslund from Altitude Branding blog had a lovely and simple post reminding us of how important it is to listen. The post had a photo of a snowy scene – very Zen-like moment – much like what our neighborhoods in the DC Metro area have looked like this past week and while I hear people constantly working outside to move cars and shovel walkways, it is kind of nice to think – maybe I just need to stop and listen and allow some thinking to happen instead of always doing.She also has a great post about being the Albert Einstein of Social Media. Amber isn’t exactly an association blogger, but what she writes about and talks about often overlaps with associations and non-profit social media themes.

5.Finally, Maggie McGeary of mizz information has a post you should check out about geo-tagging phenom Foursquare titled, “If I Were Mayor of Dunkin' Donuts...Oh Wait, I Am” and you must go over to her blog and read it. Must. Must.

Website of the Week: BillWalker, DelCor’s Marketing Guru, shared his favorite “Website of the Week” and a few words about branding and social media in this short video.

On the Twitter scene:

#untech10: I participated virtually on Thursday, February 11 and the livestreaming by Peach New Media was really helpful for people stranded by the snow. All of the sponsors deserve a special shout out for their participation and support. Maddie and Lindy of SocialFish answered three questions about #UnTech10 for the Sweet Spot Audience on video and captured for your viewing pleasure!

#hackaction: We announced “No More Talk: Hacking Associations DC Conference” scheduled for Spring 2010.We at DelCor have been working with Jeff DeCagna at Principled Innovation to create a unique event that will hopefully get people excited a little bit. What’s this all about? Well, more info will be coming out soon, but if you follow #hackaction you’ll get all the details as they come out. Basically, we’re giving you the opportunity to see your innovative ideas through…if you aren’t too scared! We have seed money that will be awarded to the best ideas as voted on by your peers. $1,000 funds that will allow you to put your money where your mouth is. Look for more details on our websites and I’ll keep you posted with each webcast.

This week, we were looking specifically at associations with a successful LinkedIn story in how they use LinkedIn to relate to their members and we discovered a great organization with a great story!

The Social Media Sweet Spot Award for this week goes to Shop.org and their superstar Josh Greene who has his own blog at www.joshgreene.com.

Shop.org is a division of the National Retail Federation, is a trade association whose exclusive focus is to provide a forum for retail executives to share information, lessons-learned, new perspectives, insights and intelligence about online and multichannel retailing.

I recently asked the Twitterverse to tell me what the biggest concerns were relating to AMS selection and implementation and here’s what I heard back:

@kikilitalien: number 1 question i ask about an AMS: DO U HAVE AN OPEN API? Actually i just asked that to a vendor last week-no API no deal!

@kikilitalien My biggest question on AMS selection/integration is DATA MIGRATION from current system to new. ugh.

@kikilitalien The biggest issue is proper requirement identification. Have lots more to say, but can't in 140 characters!

What are your questions?

DelCor Technology Solutions CEO Loretta DeLuca will be co-presenting with designDATA COO Cort Kane on “Selecting an AMS/CRM - Audience Issue Shootout for Medium to Large Associations” at the upcoming ASAE Technology Conference & Expo (#tech10). I would love to share your comments or thoughts about AMS selection with the presenters before their session and post a follow-up with some tips here!

February 05, 2010

On today’s Social Media Sweet Spot, we broadcast live from my home office, rather than the DelCor office in Silver Spring, due to the DC-region snowstorm. We sent out birthday wishes to Guilt by Association blogger Frank Fortin.

Next Friday’s webcast (February 12) will be live from the DelCor booth #226 at ASAE’s Tech10 exhibit hall, where association executives can spin to win a Poken!

Matt Baehr of BlogClump, SocialFish, and I are doing a roundtable discussion during #tech10 using Tinychat. More details to come.

Other Sweet Spot News

SocialFish will be in the house for a special edition of the Social Media Sweet Spot on February 26, so be sure to tune in on Friday from 12-12:30 pm.

Theme of the Week: SWAG, SWAG, SWAG

Not that we’re stuck on stuff or anything, but the emphasis on swag this week was profound. Maybe it’s because so many meetings are happening, maybe it’s because we’ve watched too many episodes of Hoarders on A&E, but the focus on the stuff, the swag at meetings was prominent online this week.

It all started with the association chat (#assnchat) on Tuesday and a participant’s request to find out what works or doesn’t work for giveaway items at booths.

The response was amazing and people are still reporting items from that chat.

You can check out the transcript on WTHashtag, using #assnchat, but better than that, you can get a phenomenal wrap up on the Reid All About it Blog with Deirdre Reid. She summarizes the conversation that covered the best premiums to the swag that we can’t stand. Joe Flowers, @unhatched on Twitter, even created a Flickr page for people to upload photos of bad swag!

This week, The Social Media Sweet Spot Award went to an association with a successful YouTube/Video Social Media Initiative that engaged their members and proved especially successful for them.

Next week we will be looking for associations who do it right using LinkedIn in social media…send all your nominations to me at klitalien@delcor.com or on twitter @kikilitalien. We webcast live every Friday from noon-12:30 ET on UStream at http://bit.ly/5DBxrN.

January 20, 2010

When a person's job is to be responsible for social media on behalf of their organization, it is bound to be frought with unique challenges and oportunities others in their association would not likely see. The Social Media Manager is often a hybrid of public relations/marketing/membership/customer service. My friend, Maddie Grant, has a great series of interviews with some Social Media Managers and the interviews provide great insight into how these individuals do their jobs.

Social Media Managers can be found in a variety of departments and their jobs may also include other duties. There are Social Media Managers in Publications, Marketing, Membership, Development, IT, and Public Affairs and many times they oversee a cross-departmental team of people also engaged in social media for the organization.

The salaries and experience level can often vary widely, but here are some common characteristics for successful Social Media Managers:

Strong Interpersonal Relationship Skills

Deep Understanding of Corporate Culture

Political and Social Savvy

Excellent Communication Skills

Ability to think Strategically

Understanding of Basic Marketing and Customer Relations Concepts

Creativity

Management Skills

Ability to Learn New Things...FAST

Passion

It will be interesting to see where the people in these roles today end up in 10 years. I already know many who have quickly moved on to higher positions in other organizations and it is fascinating to watch as the field tries to balance itself out in regards to salary, experience, and professional development.

The biggest mistake an organization can make is to throw an intern or bottom-rung staffer into an official or unofficial Social Media role and then expect things to go well.

Who oversees social media for your organization and how do they connect their efforts to the overall mission?

December 31, 2009

I am not related to Nostradamus. I have no insight into the future. My crystal ball is a paperweight. My second sight is from drinking one glass of red wine too many at a networking event.

That said I can tell you the future…with two caveats:

You must be an association seeking improvement.

You must be open to empowering your employees.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Okay…here goes…I’m closing my eyes and connecting with the future…

(insert drum roll)

The future is better training.

What? Not sexy enough? It should be. The days for discussing the newest online platforms and tools may not be entirely over, but with so many people already familiar with the typical “Twitter 101” session, there must be a next step. Something that will take associations to a better place using the technology available to us.

Providing media training for the executive office only is not enough. An emphasis on educating staff about social media policies, social media expectations, and customer service across all departments must be a priority. It isn’t only your association president in the public eye now. It’s 11 a.m.: Do you know where your interns are?

Here are some suggestions I have for associations in 2010:

Strategy: If you don’t already have a social media strategy, work on creating one for your organization. If you do have one, review it.Policy: Create/Review your social media policy. Make it easy to understand. Share it with your organization. Every intern and employee should know what it is.Training: Set up training sessions for staff with certain community building, customer service, or monitoring responsibilities and facilitate it with your internal evangelist or a outside professional. No one should leave the session without understanding his or her role.

December 30, 2009

Starting in January 2010 DC will enforce a five-cent tax on
paper and plastic carryout bags (a.k.a. “Witches’ Knickers”) to encourage consumers
to use reusable bags instead as a means to decrease the amount of bags in
circulation. Plastic bags; long the cheapskate’s luggage, dog cleanup, and
lunch pail; will ostensibly be used exponentially less as consumers are taught
a new behavior.

Will the term “social media” also disappear this year? Will society look to social media as simply "media," allowing for less clutter in the interwebs and a cleaner more streamlined vernacular? Tweeps*
are bemoaning the flagrant overuse of these two words and are happy to offer up
reasons for banning “social media” in 2010. They also offer up possible
alternatives.

emerging media

new media

now media

media

continuous communications

digital media

Allowing “social media” to become part of accepted “media” seems to be a popular idea. However, just to keep things interesting, some
media types argue social media is not media at all.

The biggest problem I have with the
term “social media” is that it isn’t media in the traditional sense. Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, and all the others I don’t have the word count to mention
aren’t media; they are platforms for interaction and networking. All the
traditional media — print, broadcast, search, and so on — provide platforms for
delivery of ads near and around relevant content. Social media are platforms
for interaction and relationships, not content and ads.”

"I think when we call it
'consumer-generated media,' we're being predatory," he said. "Who
said this is media? Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains
inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren't trying to generate
media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant.
... We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try
to monetize it."

I have to admit while I sometimes groan at the overuse of “social media”
in daily conversations, I still use it (rather than “media”) for the sake
of people better understanding I am talking about online platforms and
communication. It will be interesting to watch what happens with the terms in the
coming months and years. In December 2010, will this still be an issue? Anyone
remember Web 2.0?

*Tweeps: Conjuction
of Twitter and Peeps resulting tweeps, is commonly used to refer to the Twitter
followers of someone.

December 28, 2009

Although haiku is not my favorite form of poetry, there is
something wildly appropriate in its use for a post about 2009. Its brevity and
form are analogous to communication today.
I bid farewell to 2009 using haiku and encourage you to submit comments
in 5-7-5 format.

December 07, 2009

Ever
review your blog statistics and wonder about the number of people who follow
your site, but never comment?

Every
day many of us communicate with each other online at a fast-pace. Creating blog posts, posting our comments, retweeting interesting articles - these have become standard activities for many of us. Yet there is a large group of
people who often do not get the credit they deserve, and who may even be
slighted by the ignorance of widespread misunderstanding. That silent majority is best identified by the term, “lurker.”

Main
Entry:lurkPronunciation:\ˈlərk\Function:intransitive verbEtymology:
Middle English; akin to Middle High Germanlūrento lie in wait — more atlowerDate:
14th century

1 a:to lie in wait in a
place ofconcealmentespecially for an evil purposeb:to move furtively or
inconspicuouslyc:to persist in staying2 a:to be concealed but
capable of being discovered;specifically:to constitute a
latent threatb:to
lie hidden3:to read messages on
an Internetdiscussion
forum(as a newsgroup orchat room)
without contributing

Let’s
discuss just a little of what we can glean from this dictionary description for
the word “lurk.”

In
description 3, we find the activity of our particular brand of lurker…what this
post is all about! From the etymology above, one might mistakenly perceive that
a lurker is somehow “lower,” less important or not important at all because
they aren’t acting. Furthermore, someone
might even see lurkers as threatening or dangerous, asking , “Why are people
just reading and not posting? What do
they have to hide? Why aren’t they contributing?”

Lurkers
may not post on message boards, but it is wrong to assume this equals
inactivity or non-participation. The fact they are reading the forums and
listening to the conversations happening online helps feed the social food
chain. Lurkers often share items of
interest with other people they know offline and draw their attention to the
article, post, or website for further examination. Lurkers play a vital role.

The
magic of lurkers is their latent potential for spreading information via word
of mouth. They may not retweet your blog
link, but if they like it, they will tell their friends how to find it. They can
talk about your website and attract others who may be more vocal online. I
think we should love lurkers. I actually have a very special lurker in my life.

My
husband is a lurker (thank God, he never reads anything I write – he would hate
to be known as a “lurker” and he doesn’t share my affection for the term). He reads hockey forums and the forums on Fark on a daily basis
and talks about what he reads there, sometimes pulling me over to the screen to
view it. He does not see himself participating in social media, though he is (albeit
in a “backstage” kind of way).

Lurkers
help our meetings and posts go viral. They spread the word in person and can
have a mighty impact on our message. While we cater our information to the one percent
of the power contributors, lurkers quietly go
about their business helping to spread the word behind the scenes.

In light of the awesomeness of lurkers, I hereby decree
March 19, 2010 to be “Love a Lurker Day” for the interwebs
community. (I am not kidding – I even have the shirt
ready for you to order today.)

What are your feelings about lurkers? Feel free to share your thoughts, anecdotes,
or plans for celebrating “Love a Lurker Day” in comments (or if you are a lurker, tell someone to
check this out).

December 02, 2009

There are many curious things that happen in the world of Twitter, lots of questions yet unanswered and mysteries left unsolved. One such question is this:

“What alias do I give myself when tweeting for my association?”

Is using the company name as a Twitter alias fine? What if you are part of a big group with a highly visible profile?

Would it be right if Company X has a corporate Twitter handle and then under the bio it says something like “Jane Doe, title, tweeting for Company X,” then the separate divisions have Twitter aliases as well?

Olivier Blanchard (@thebrandbuilder) discussed this on his blog post today and used Zappos as an example. Most employees of the company use the company name (Zappos), followed by an underscore, then the employee’s first name, or a variation on their own name that is unique within the company. The result is Twitter account names like@zappos_alfred and @zappos_dee. In some cases, the account name is simply the name of the department, such as @zappos_service.

The American Red Cross uses an official Twitter alias and has official Twitter aliases for their community chapters, but volunteers and staff tweet under their names. (An example @wharman tweets under her name for the ARC and blogs for them while the Red Cross National Chapter uses @RedCrossNCA.)

One more question…if Twitter comes up with a business account, will all of these questions soon be moot?